does anybody hear heard about or have a FIBROID?!
Question:
Answers:
Fibroid is a term used for two different types of tumors:
Fibroids is the common term for Leiomyoma originating in the uterus. It is a benign neoplasm composed of smooth muscle cells.
A fibroid tumor is another name for a fibroma, a tumor of fibrous connective tissue.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibroid"
Other Answers:
Yes, where are you talking about?
There are lots of websites on fibroids. It's a benign tumor of the uterus most often in women in the late 30s and 40s. About 30% of women have them, but most don't know that because it usually doesn't cause problems. If they are big, they cause pain and heavy bleeding. If it makes you anemic, you need to get it treated. See a gynecologist. First, try hormones or birth control pills. If that doesn't work, you need to consider a hysterectomy or uterine artery embolization.
Yes I had one in my uterus. It was painful.
It's a benign tumor that consists of fibrous and muscular tissue and occurs especially in the uterine wall
These are benign tumors, meaning growths in the body that do not have the potential to invade surrounding tissue and spread to distant parts of the body like a cancer would.
Treatment can be one of the following, depending on the patient's medical condition: Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), myomectomy (removal of the fibroids), ablation (treating the blood vessels to the tumor(s) to block blood flow to them), and hormonal medication (GnRH).
Source(s):
http://www.conceivingconcepts.com/medical/fibroids-treat.html
A uterine fibroid is the most common benign (not cancerous) tumor of a woman’s uterus (womb). Fibroids develop with the uterine wall or attach to it. They may grow as a single tumor or in clusters. Uterine fibroids can cause excessive menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, and frequent urination.
These growths occur in about 25% of all women and are the leading cause of hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) in the United States. Of every woman older than 35 years, 1 in 5 has a uterine fibroid. An estimated 600,000 hysterectomies (removal of the uterus) are performed in the US annually, and at least one-third are for fibroids. Medications and newer, less invasive surgery can control the growth of fibroids.
Fibroids start in the muscle tissues of the uterus. They can grow into the uterine cavity, into the thickness of the uterine wall, or on the surface of the uterus into the abdominal cavity. Although these tumors are called fibroids, this term is misleading because they consist of muscle tissue, not fibrous tissue.
Fibroids Causes
Fibroids are stimulated by the hormone estrogen, produced naturally in your body. These growths can show up as early as age 20 and shrink after menopause when your body stops producing large amounts of estrogen.
Fibroids can be tiny and cause no problems, but they can also grow to weigh several pounds. They grow slowly. Some women with many fibroids may have an inherited tendency toward developing them.
The following factors have been associated with the growth of fibroids:
Being overweight, obesity
Never having given birth to a child (called nulliparity)
Onset of your period prior to age 10
African American heritage (occurring 3-9 times more often than in Caucasian women)
Fibroids Symptoms
Most fibroids, even large ones, produce no symptoms. These masses are often found during your regular pelvic examination.
When you do experience symptoms, the most common are these:
Irregular vaginal bleeding or an increase in menstrual bleeding, known as menorrhagia, sometimes with blood clots
Pressure on the bladder, which may cause you to urinate often and feel a sense of urgency to urinate and, rarely, the inability to urinate
Pressure on the rectum, resulting in constipation
Pelvic pressure, “feeling full” in the lower abdomen, lower abdominal pain
Increase in size around your waist and change in abdominal contour (You may need to increase your clothing size but not because of a significant weight gain.)
Infertility, which is defined as an inability to become pregnant after 1 year of attempting to get pregnant
A pelvic mass discovered by your health care provider during a physical examination
Fibroids Treatment
Treatment for fibroids depends on your symptoms, the size and location of your fibroids, your age (how close you are to menopause), your desire to have children, and your general health.
Self-Care at Home
No specific self-care is available for fibroids. But if you have abnormal or heavy menstrual bleeding, keep a diary of your menstrual cycle in order to provide your health care provider with that information.
Medical Treatment
In most cases, treatment is not necessary, particularly if you have no symptoms, have small tumors, or you have gone through menopause. Abnormal vaginal bleeding caused by fibroids may require scraping of the uterine cavity in a procedure known as a D&C. If no malignancy (cancer) is found, this bleeding often can be controlled by hormonal medications. Discuss the following treatment options with your health care provider
Medications
Observation: Your doctor will follow the size and growth of your fibroids over time to make sure no indicators of cancer are present. If you do not have symptoms such as vaginal bleeding or pelvic pain, and if the fibroid is not growing rapidly, no treatment may be needed. You may, however, require more frequent pelvic exams, such as every 6 months, to check on changes.
Medication: You may be given nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, oral contraceptives (birth control pills), gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists, or RU-486.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, such as ibuprofen (Advil is one example), have been shown to relieve pelvic pain associated with fibroids.
Oral contraceptive pills are also commonly used in women with fibroids. Although the hormones (including estrogen) in such birth control pills may increase the size of the fibroid, they often decrease your perceived menstrual blood flow and help with pelvic pain.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists are medications that act on the pituitary gland to decrease estrogen produced by your body. A decrease in estrogen causes fibroids to decrease in size. This type of medication often is used prior to surgery to shrink the fibroid, to decrease the amount of blood loss during surgery, or to improve your preoperation blood count. The size of the fibroid can be reduced by 50% in 3 months of this type of therapy. But fibroids regrow once treatment is stopped. Long-term therapy with these medications is limited by the side effects of low estrogen (much like menopause caused by drugs), which include decreased bone density, hot flashes, and vaginal dryness.
The antihormonal drug RU-486 (mifepristone) has also been shown to reduce fibroids by about half. This drug has also been shown to reduce pelvic pain, bladder pressure, and lower back pain. Low doses of this drug may reduce the size of fibroids in preparation for surgery to remove them. It may also help you avoid surgery entirely by shrinking the fibroids and the problems they are causing. Side effects related to low estrogen, seen with GnRH analogs, may be less common. RU-486 can induce miscarriage, so this medication should be used with caution if you wish to become pregnant.
Surgery
Surgery options for treatment have both risks and benefits. Be sure to discuss these risks and benefits with your doctor. Some treatment options may not be right for you because of the characteristics of your fibroids or other health factors.
Myomectomy is the surgical removal of the fibroids only. This can be accomplished through hysteroscopy, laparoscopy, or, less frequently, an open procedure (an incision in your abdomen). The surgical approach depends on the size and location of your fibroid. Pretreatment with GnRH analogs has been shown to decrease blood loss and operative time in women undergoing myomectomy. Myomectomy has also been shown to have a decreased likelihood of injury to the bowel, bladder, or ureter than hysterectomy. The uterus is left intact in this type of procedure, and you may be able to become pregnant.
Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus (and fibroids). It is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the treatment of fibroids and is considered a cure. Depending on the size of the fibroid, hysterectomy can be performed through your vagina or abdomen. Use of GnRH agonists can reduce the size of the fibroid to allow the less invasive surgery through the vagina. In past experience, less blood loss has occurred using hysterectomy than myomectomy. But this may change as preoperative hormone treatment is improved and blood loss is reduced because hormone use helps the tumors shrink. Hysterectomy with removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries (called a salpingo-oophorectomy) may be indicated if cancer or ovarian masses are present.
Uterine artery embolization, or clotting of the arterial blood supply to the fibroid, is an innovative approach that has shown promising results. This procedure is done by inserting a catheter (small tube) into an artery of the leg (the femoral artery), using special x-ray video to trace the arterial blood supply to the uterus, then clotting the artery with tiny plastic or gelatin sponge particles the size of grains of sand. This material blocks blood flow to the fibroid and shrinks it. This method may prove to be a good option for women if other methods have not worked or who do not want surgery or may not be good candidates for surgery. A specialist known as an interventional radiologist performs this procedure.
My cousin had a fibroid tumor that was in her uterus for years and it started to grow and stopped her from having children.We all thought she was lucky because she didn't have to take birth control, well she is 46 years old and the tumor started to make her have irregular periods and bleed a lot so she went to the doctor and he said it had grown to the size of a basketball and her stomach was flat except for a little bulge, well she had the surgery and had it removed
Answers: